Backland Pure 26/27

Pure is the right word: the Backland Pure is a stripped-back tech touring binding at 305 grams per foot including the leash, with no brake. A patented step-in aid at the toe lines your boot up so it clicks in without fighting it. Two climbing aids work separately from the heel tower, giving 0, 7 and 13 degree positions. The mount is a broad 40mm pattern, sole length adjustment is 30mm, and it takes standard ski crampons.

No brake is the trade, and it is a real one. You ski on a leash, which means discipline in transitions and a genuine consequence if you drop a ski. The reward is a binding you stop noticing on a long climb.

For committed tourers counting grams on big days. Anyone touring occasionally, or riding lifts on the same setup, wants a braked binding.

Fit is about the ski rather than the binding here. The 40mm mount pattern spreads load well on wide skis, and we will check your ski has enough material under it before we drill.

On a long day with real vertical, this is the binding that makes the up feel genuinely easy.